1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surveying instrument including a guide light optical system which irradiates with guide light and a surveying operation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A surveying instrument provided with a guide light irradiation unit which irradiates with guide light indicating a collimation direction of a surveying instrument to an operator is conventionally known (refer to, for example, JP2012-202821A).
Such a surveying instrument includes a base and a pedestal rotating in a horizontal direction relative to the base. The pedestal is provided with a support member. The support member supports a lens barrel of a ranging optical system to be rotatable in a vertical direction, and is provided with various driving mechanisms and control mechanisms.
A cover member is attached to the pedestal to cover the support member and the lens barrel of the ranging optical system as well as respective mechanisms. The guide light irradiation unit is provided in the top part of the cover member.
An operator carries a portable wireless transceiver as a controller, so that coordinate data of a survey setting point is sent to a wireless transceiver of the surveying instrument from the portable wireless transceiver.
Upon the completion of the surveying of a certain survey setting point, the pedestal of the surveying instrument rotates in a horizontal direction while irradiating the next survey setting point with the guide light.
However, the surveying operation system with such a surveying instrument has an energy saving problem because the pedestal rotates while irradiating with the guide light.
It is therefore considered that energy is saved by stopping the irradiation of the guide light when a target is locked, and the locking is informed to an operator. However, when the irradiation of the guide light is stopped in the case of locking the target, the surveying operation efficiency by an operator may be deteriorated because target light is turned off if the locking of target is released for some reason after the target is locked.